Page 9 of The Red Room

“I know you, Natalie. And you’re going to do whatever you can to talk yourself out of this. Out of Nik. He’s attractive, well-off, and obviously very into you. Stop overthinking it.”

She’s right. I fucking hate that she is, but I can’t lie to myself. If anyone would know how I’d be looking for an exit strategy, it would be the friend I’ve had since high school. Well, my only real friend, come to think of it. Am I overreacting about Nik? Possibly. He’s been nothing besides charming and protective. Women would create a bigger line than the one Völk has every night to have him buy them a drink. And for some reason or another, I’m the one he wants here.

“Okay,” I finally say.

“Okay?” Courtney squeals and shakes my shoulders. “Good, because it’s about time you were properly fucked, and something tells me Nicky likes it rough.” A devilish grin emerges on her face.

Blush creeps to my cheeks along with immediate regret. “I hate you,” I say, brushing off my dress and smoothing it down my thighs.

“No you don’t,” she says, then adds a familiar accent to her voice. “Natalia.”

*

Alek is wiping down the bar when we re-enter, a large rag in his hand soaked in what surely is the well vodka still dripping on vacant stools. Nik and Viktor have their backs to us as we approach, and despite not knowing what the hell they’re saying, it doesn’t sound good. They might be fighting about something. The club getting sued for what he did to that guy? I have no idea, but if I had to guess, they’re only moments away from trading fists with each other. Viktor peers over at me in annoyance and nods to Nik. When he turns, the anger seemingly vanishes from his face, leaving only softness in his glowing eyes to return.

“Natalia,” he says and gestures his palm in my direction.

When I take it, he pulls me close to him. The scent of cedar swirls around me, and despite my best efforts, I can do little else than peer up at him anxiously.

“I was starting to get worried. Are you hurt?” There’s a gentle rasp in his throat, a stark contrast to the anger filling his voice not only during the scuffle, but when he and Viktor were deep in discussion. About what still has me gnawing the inside of my cheeks. If they were talking about me, what did I do to cause so much tension between them?

I smile wanly and curl a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m fine. That was … well, a lot.”

Nik places a palm on each side of my waist, centering our bodies and ensuring I have nowhere else to look but him. Not that I could, even if I wanted to. Christ, his touch is like needles piercing every inch of my skin. The sensation burns hot under each of his fingertips, and when he closes the distance between us, I feel my lungs deflate inch by suffocating inch. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I should’ve let the bouncers handle him. That’s what I pay them to do.”

“It’s fine—”

He shakes his head and cuts me off, his long hair swaying over his broad shoulders. “No, it’s not fine. The last thing I’d ever want to do is scare you.”

I swallow hard and look up at him. “You don’t.” I’m not even sure if I believe it. Does he scare me? Maybe. Maybe he scares me because he’s handsome, successful, and a few inches from my face, his minty breath kissing my lips. Maybe it’s because he checks all the boxes and then some. It could be the way he stares at me with those glowing eyes, and not through me, the way everyone else has my entire life. He does scare me, and not because some asshole had a big dose of Nikolai Vostik Karma coming. Nik scares me in all the right ways.

His eyebrows knit together. “I—I don’t?”

I wrap my arms around his neck. “No, Nik. You don’t scare me.”

A smile spreads wide on his face. “Good. And about the vodka,” he says and waves his arm to the floor collecting the well vodka. Then, he brings his lips to my ear. “It isn’t flammable. But he didn’t know that.”

Relief settles in my rib cage.It was a bluff.He was tricking that guy the whole time, tricking all of us really. The lighter would’ve done little else than leave a nasty burn mark on his face. How the hell could I believe he would seriously set a person on fire in the middle of a packed club? I shake myhead and ignore the conclusions I practically leapt to. Courtney is right. All I’m doing right now is looking for new ways to talk myself out of this. Maybe it’s time to finally tell the little voice in my head to get in the backseat. But then again, maybe I’m letting this man steer my car off a cliff.

“How about another drink for our new friends, brother?” Viktor interrupts, taking a tentative step forward.

Nik runs his teeth to his lower lip. “Excellent suggestion.” He turns toward the bar, his hands staying firm on my hips. “Alek.Napitki.”

The bartender nods and pulls a bottle from the middle of the shelf. When he points the bottle neck in Viktor’s direction, the large brother snatches it with irritation.

Nik releases me, and although his hands are no longer on my side, the spots still burn hot, radiating the heat from his fingertips. Courtney gives me a flirty grin and follows behind him to the front of the bar. The idea pounding at the back of my head is almost in beat with the club music.This man will be the death of me.

A shot glass is given to each of us, and when Nik extends one to Viktor, his menacing appearance returns in spades. Something has crawled up his ass and obviously put a serious strain on his social skills. His bowling ball shoulders are no longer relaxed but stiffened and flexed. His smile, if you could indeed call a snarl a smile, is small and tight. He glances between Courtney and Nik, and for a brief moment, he shifts his focus to me. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but with a sinister grin like that? It can’t be good.

Nik clinks his glass with mine and winks. In one fell swoop, he downs the entire shot, not a muscle or fiber of his face flinching at the burn sure to be careening down his throat. I follow suit and my reaction is, well, quite the opposite. It’s like someone lit a fire on my tongue, and the only way to put thedamn thing out is the heavy saliva filling my cheeks.Oh, no. No, this isn’t happening.I try to swallow down what I can but the nausea comes back tenfold.Of fucking course I’m on the verge of puking now.First, I get knocked to the floor, and now I’m about to redecorate Nik’s club with my insides.

I manage to keep most of the vodka in my mouth while a small dribble glides down my chin.Breathe.In and out.Just breathe.It helps but doesn’t do anything to unclench my tightened face.

Nik lifts his hand to my chin and catches the small drops before they trickle downward. “You must be careful with this drink,” he says, and sucks the alcohol off his thumb. “It’s very strong.”

Fuck me.I wasn’t wrong before. He really is going to be the death of me. How did Natalie die? Well, she went into cardiac arrest at a club playing some remixed version of Taylor Swift. Why must everything this man does stir something inside me? It’s like all of my organs have been pushed aside to make room in my body for incredible lust. There’s a need, no, a desire for his hands to return to their rightful place. My hips. For his eyes to always stay trained on mine. His lips, those soft, full lips to brush against my ear when his secrets are for me and me alone.

“It’s not that bad,” I lie, the sour expression on my face a dead giveaway.

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